AP introduces Rs 13,110 Cr Agri Budget

Hyderabad, Aug 22 (INN): Agriculture Minister Prathipati Pulla Rao on Friday presented Rs 13,110.39 crore Agriculture Budget for the State of Andhra Pradesh for the year 2014-15. Of this, the plan outlay for agriculture and allied activities stands at Rs 6,736.44 crore and non-plan expenditure at Rs 6,373.95 crore.

Presenting the budget in the AP State Legislative Assembly, Pulla Rao said that the budget was aimed at making agriculture a profitable and sustainable vocation.

He said that Andhra Pradesh is considered as the 'rice bowl of India' and that 62% of its farmers are dependent on agriculture in the state. He said that Andhra Pradesh has inherited the crisis-ridden agriculture sector from the previous government.

Stating that the government has taken a brave step by going ahead with the loan waiver for farmers despite starting off with a revenue deficit, the minister said that Rs 5,000 crore has be allocated for agriculture crop loan waiver.

"The state government is partnering with ICRISAT and other institutions for soil health management through Bhuchetna programme. Under National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), soil mapping and testing will be taken up in every village of AP to bring down input costs of farmers and increase agriculture productivity," the minister informed the House.

For this, the state government will use advanced technologies like remote sensing, GIS and GPS-simulation models for optimum use of fertilizers.

A budget of Rs 212 crore has been allocated for 2014-15 for popularizing better seed varieties and supply of certified seeds on subsidy to farmers. In order to modernize agriculture by using best machinery and for setting up different agri-related service centres, the government has allocated Rs 90 crore.

The government has also decided that crop loan interest for loan between Rs.1 lakh- Rs.3 lakh would be 0.25 paise (Pavala Vaddi) if repaid in time and will be continued. Taking a step further, the government has said farmers can avail interest-free loans for crop loans below Rs 1 lakh.

The government's flagship Polam Pilustondi scheme, will reach nearly 7.6 million farmers, the minister informed. To improve livelihoods of farmers, the state government will replace Aadharsha Rythus will be by qualified Multi-purpose Extension Officers (MPEOs) to improve productivity in agriculture.

Under Rajiv Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), an additional central assistance during 2014-15, an interim allocation of Rs 237 crore has been made to agriculture and allied sectors. The state government has allocated Rs 192.92 crore for Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University.

The government, Pulla Rao informed, is committed to improve micro-irrigation with a total outlay of Rs 348.33 crore. While Horticulture University got an outlay of Rs 30.61 crore for 2014-15, the State Government's boost for Sericulture stands at Rs 122.92 crore. The budget for Veterinary University at Tirupati is Rs 112.80 crore.

The total expenditure allocated for animal husbandary department for 2014-15 is Rs 723.32 crore (non-plan expenditure stands at Rs 527.32 crore and Plan outlay at Rs 196 crore). The budget allocated for fisheries is Rs 60.07 crore.

The State Government has allocated Rs 3,188 crore for power subsidy to farmers for the year 2014-15. It is proposed that every year 10,000 new solar pump sets will be installed in a phased manner in the next five years. In the state government's efforts to link MGREGA to agriculture, Rs 1,386.30 crore has been allocated for agriculture and allied activities under MGNREGA.

The minister said that the government's focus would be to integrate all the lines of departments of agriculture, animal husbandry, irrigation, horticulture, sericulture, fisheries, marketing and rural development etc, for raising farmers' income and increasing the share of primary sector in GSDP.